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In recent years some famous Bible scholars have popularized the belief that the Psalm 83 War is yet to occur and will shortly precede the War of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38).  While this theory explains some of the pieces of the puzzle, such as why the nations listed in Psalm 83 are not mentioned in Ezekiel 38, it has at least one glaring problem: the geopolitical scene is not, at least right now, aligned in such a way for the Psalm 83 War to occur.  Egypt and Jordan are both at peace with Israel and are in fact...

Dozens of Arabs rioted tonight (Monday), throwing stones and blocking the Maale Mota Gur road in Jerusalem. Police forces are on the scene and the rioters are being driven out using riot control measures. At the same time, dozens of Arabs gathered near the Lions' Gate and attacked policemen. The Arab riots are part of the Arab protest against the metal detectors at the entrances to the Temple Mount following the murderous attack on Friday. During the day, hundreds of Muslim worshipers came to the Al-Aqsa mosque but did not enter and prayed outside the Temple Mount to protest the...

The Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem announced yesterday, July 15, that it had lost its definitive control over the Al-Aqsa Mosque. In its announcement, it said that the entire Al-Aqsa Mosque compound was a Muslim right only and all actions taken by Israel were a blatant violation of this right. The announcement by the Waqf Department came after the Israeli decision to close the Temple Mount in the wake of the shooting attack on Friday, during which two Border Policemen were murdered. The Waqf Department demanded that the Al-Aqsa Mosque be opened immediately and that Muslims be permitted to hold...

UN organization declares Israel 'occupying power' of Old City, denies Israeli sovereignty. UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee passed a resolution condemning Israel for its policies in the Old City of Jerusalem Tuesday. Ten member states voted in favor of the resolution, three voted against it, and three states abstained. The resolution refers to Israel “the occupying power” in its capital and denies Israel's claims to the Old City and eastern Jerusalem. The wording of the Jordanian-sponsored resolution was softened compared to a similar resolution which was passed in 2016, with references to the Temple Mount removed. However, the resolution explicitly denied...

Turkey is spending tens of millions of dollars to gain a foothold inside Israel’s capital city and to stir up tensions between Arab residents and Israelis, a new investigative report claims. According to the report, set to be published in full by journalist Nadav Shragi this coming Friday in Yisrael Hashavua, since 2004 some $63 million from Turkish NGOs and the Turkish government have gone to organizations in eastern Jerusalem dedicated to “defending and strengthening the Muslim heritage and character of Jerusalem. Some of the funds have been transferred by the Turkish government through the Turkish International Cooperation and Development...

Exactly 50 years ago today, John's earthly father delivered a sermon on the impact of the 1967 war on the relatively new nation of Israel. John shares a very emotional update, both honoring and echoing the words of his father, the notes of which were providentially uncovered just this weekend from June 18, 1967.

The Islamic State (ISIS) on Friday night claimed responsibility for the stabbing and shooting attack in the Old City of Jerusalem, in which 23-year-old Border Police officer Hadas Malka was murdered. According to the SITE Intelligence Group, ISIS identified the attackers and referred to them as “lions of the Caliphate”. If authentic, this is the first time that ISIS has claimed a terrorist attack in Israel. Earlier on Friday, Hamas welcomed the attack but did not claim it. …

SAN DIEGO, May 25 (UPI) -- An Internet investment adviser charged with insider trading was being held without bail on a parole violation Saturday after federal prosecutors in San Diego raised questions about a stock-sales order he placed the day before the September terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Amir "Anthony" Elgindy, 34, of Encinitas, faces charges in New York of allegedly taking part in a stock manipulation and extortion scheme with four other people, including two current and former FBI agents. Prosecutors, however, raised questions during a detention hearing Friday about what he might have known...

The literary elite is using the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem to make Israel’s greatest victory synonymous with tragedy. It’s the new “nakba,” that being the Arabic word for “catastrophe” that Palestinians and their allies give to Israel’s victory in its 1948 war of independence, after Arab governments rejected the partition plan and declared war on the infant Jewish state. Palestinians could have had their own state all those decades ago, but chose war instead — and lost. There is something utterly nasty in trying to take a rare bright spot on the dark timeline of Jewish history...

WASHINGTON – Two leading Democratic lawmakers from New York criticized US President Donald Trump this week for deferring on his campaign promise to relocate the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, questioning silence from their colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, and Eliot Engel, ranking member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, both issued condemnatory statements after the White House temporarily waived a congressional requirement compelling the embassy move.

President Trump will not yet move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem -- at the least postponing an oft-repeated campaign pledge -- however, the White House said Thursday the delay was only in the interest of serving a possible peace deal and the move would happen eventually. Trump signed the Jerusalem Recognition Act Waiver on Thursday morning, officially delaying the move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv. “No one should consider this step to be in any way a retreat from the President's strong support for Israel and for the United States-Israel alliance,” the White House said in...

John shares some of his experiences and observations on his recent trip to Israel during this week's update.

“These finds tell the story of the last battle between the Roman forces and the Jewish rebels who had barricaded themselves in the city, a battle that resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem,” the Antiquities Authority said. “This battle is described by the historian Flavius Josephus [born 37 CE]: ‘On the following day the Romans, having routed the brigands from the town, set the whole on fire as far as Siloam (Josephus, Wars, Book 6:363).’” According to Nahshon Szanton and Moran Hagbi, directors of the excavation on behalf of the authority, the ballista balls were fired by Roman catapults used...

Tuesday, May 23, 2017 The War for Jerusalem Posted by Daniel Greenfield When Jordan's Arab Legion seized half of Jerusalem, ethnically cleansed its Jewish population and annexed the city-- the only entity to recognize the annexation was the United Kingdom which had provided the officers and the training that made the conquest possible. Officers like Colonel Bill Newman, Major Geoffrey Lockett and Major Bob Slade, under Glubb Pasha, better known as General John Bagot Glubb, whose son later converted to Islam, invaded Jerusalem and used the Muslim forces under their command to make the partition and ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem...

Jerusalem belongs to Israel by the record of history, international law, and the right of conquest that is recognized for every other state in the world, but not for Israel. This is an extremely encouraging development; we can only hope there will be more to come. The Trump administration declared the president is in “Jerusalem, Israel,” on Monday for a series of meetings with Israeli officials, a proclamation that breaks with years of American policy refraining from stating that the city of Jerusalem is part of Israel. Senior Trump administration officials had ignited a wave of controversy over the past...

It is the Decision of the Holy Spirit and Us – A Reflection on the Catholicity of the Early Church Msgr. Charles Pope • May 17, 2017 • The first readings at daily Mass this week recount the Council of Jerusalem, which scholars generally date to around 50 A.D. It was a pivotal moment in the history of the Church, because it would set forth an identity for Her that was independent of the culture of Judaism per se and would open wide the door of inculturation to the Gentiles. This surely had a significant effect on evangelization in...

Israel “didn’t occupy Jerusalem fifty years ago, it liberated it,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on the eve of US President Donald Trump’s historic two-day visit to Israel. “I want to the tell the world in a loud and clear voice: Jerusalem has always been and always will be the capital of Israel,” Netanyahu said at a celebratory event marking the 50th anniversary of the reunification of Israel’s capital city after the Six Day War. “The Temple Mount and the Western Wall will always remain under Israeli sovereignty,” the prime minister added. Netanyahu’s words were seen as a direct message...

"While I did not notice anything on the board behind us at the time, I must say that I am happy to see that repealing the catastrophic Iran nuclear agreement, and moving the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, remain important to the administration." — Rabbi Shmuley Boteach [Charisma News] If you are even sporadically following American politics this week, you likely at some point saw a photo of "America's Rabbi," Shmuley Boteach, with White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon—a photo that has since been declared "The Whiteboard Seen 'Round the World." (Photo Credit: Twitter photo) You're also probably well...

Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev (Likud) will demand at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting to close the UN headquarters in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood and return the land to the state. Her call came after the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Steering Committee voted to adopt a resolution denying Israel’s rights to Jerusalem. The resolution declares that “all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, which have altered or purport to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and in particular the ‘basic law’ on Jerusalem, are null and...

The United Nations’ cultural agency voted to condemn Israel’s sovereignty in Jerusalem. UNESCO — the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — passed a resolution called “Occupied Palestine” by a vote of 22-10, with 26 countries abstaining or absent, on Tuesday. The resolution calls on Israel to rescind any “legislative and administrative measures and actions” it has taken to “alter the character and status” of Jerusalem. It rejects the idea of a “basic law” in Jerusalem, based off of a 1980 Knesset law, which implies that the city is one unified whole and governed solely by Israel. Submitted by Algeria,...